The caged bird
by Nadeshiko Fullbuster
Summary: Leaving the hospital, Shouto wonders about his actual condition and how he cannot feel free from his father wherever he goes. Lacking attention, he gets attacked by petty villains and meets one of his heroes teachers on the field. What could be better for Shouto to learn directly from the best that his blood cannot bound him to anybody, and that he has plenty of potential to spread


He shut the door gently behind him, after waving a last time to his mother, saying that he will be back in a couple of days. He passed in front of the reception desk, greeting the nurses on duty, who waved back and gave him warm goodbyes. They were starting to know him as he came more and more often to visit his mother.

"Goodbye, Shouto-chan."  
"See you and be careful on your way back, dear!"

As he got out of the hospital, he was a little bit startled by the wind, blowing strongly against his face, making his white and red locks dance in the air. It was really enjoyable as it was cooling his head of all the thoughts that were overfilling it.  
Of course, he was feeling happy, being able to see and talk freely about anything and nothing with his mother after all these years was a true blessing. At first, he had been uneasy, afraid of making his mother uncomfortable, by reminding her of her shitty husband. But, to his delight, she had welcomed him very warmly, tears of joy welling up in her black eyes as soon as she got sight of her youngest child. Her other children had come and visit her from time to time, giving her news about Shouto but seeing him in flesh and blood, healthy and well... was a true miracle as she thought that he despised her for hurting him. She had hugged him, kissed him tenderly on the cheeks and forehead many time and he hugged and kissed her back, with watery eyes as well. They had talked for hours, and she was truly relieved to see that he had made friends and was evolving in such an energetic and stimulating environment.

Since then, Shouto had seen her many times as he was trying to see her every weekends. However, as these moments were an oasis in the midst of his exhausting and hero-in-training life, he had the same feeling when he stepped out of the hospital.

A feeling of stagnation.  
Even though he was bonding again with his mother...  
Even though he had wonderful friends and teachers that care for him...  
Even though he was living in the dorms with them...

...he always had the feeling that nothing had concretely changed. He always felt like his father's claws were just under his throat. He was living under a different roof away from him, and he didn't even saw the bastard for quite a long time now, so why did he always felt his towering presence looming right behind his back?  
Shouto was still a minor and the threat of being send back to his home was hanging above his head like an anchor and it could fall on him anytime.

And if he didn't obey diligently to him, the shitty flame would probably arrange himself to send his mother to another hospital so that he could never see her again.

As the thought crossed through his mind, a cold sweat slid along his back and he couldn't help himself but to stop, searching with his eyes his mother's window. In fact, she was there, looking at him as he was leaving with a neutral face and when she noticed her son stopped, she waved a last time and smiled, which he answered with a wave too.  
Her being in a hospital was one of the reasons he was feeling like this; she wasn't even mentally crazy to begin with or physically hurt that will need her staying that many years in a hospital. On the contrary, it should have been the opposite; staying that long in the same room should have driven her insane, but she held on.  
She told him, on the second time he went to see her, that she might have snapped if she didn't know that her lovely children were waiting for her outside and that they didn't stop loving and thinking of her.  
So, it would be the last of Shouto's desires to see his mother being robbed of her children and hope of living with them again under the same roof.

He got out of the parking lot, and turned right to continue on the descending street. The amount of people chatting lively didn't help much to distract him from his annoying thoughts.  
There he was, walking freely in the streets, surrounded by peace, laughter and happiness. Those were brought and protected by the people who watched over them: the heroes.  
And to say that he was being stripped of all of them by one of these heroes, yet along his own dad.

The feeling of being a bird in a huge cage, that gave you a fake impression of freedom, letting you batting your wings as you wish as long as you didn't go outside...only to fall onto cold and damp steel bars that are keeping you from going any further.

His cage was this city, not to mention that Japan's old mentality was really strict on the legal age. Recently, they had granted an 18 years old majority, but only on a civil and penal level, which meant that they were just able to vote and have citizen-like duties. But by no mean did it meant being independent, they were still minors in the eyes of the law and under their parents' protection... well, in his case it was more under control and monitoring.  
The legal age still being 20 years old, it left him four and a half years ahead of him before he could be independent and cut all legal bonds with his father.

Legally, yes. But officiously, it was another case. It was the whole point of Shouto's negative thinking; his father could do anything to him in that large span of time, and considering the jerk's money, power and influence, even when he'll turn twenty, he wouldn't be able to be completely safe from him, as well as for his big sister Fuyumi and big brothers Kazuya and Yoichi. They were overseas for their jobs, but the bastard had a long arm; in order to apply pressure on Shouto, he could make them come back in Japan in a heartbeat.

That frustration... free to go wherever he wanted, do what he wanted but still in a cage, representing the limits he was forbidden to cross. Knowing that the key was out there, being able to stretch his hand for it, but unable to touch it or even see it.  
He felt his throat squeeze, giving him a hard time to gulp and he suddenly had the urge to make a dash for the hospital and threw himself in the arms of his mother.  
But as tempting as the image sounded, he couldn't, slapping his cheeks slightly and shaking his head to calm down. What good would it do to make his mother worry more than she does? Plus, he had swear to give her only good news about him. He could handle those type of small fears and anxiety. He had handled them alone for fifteen years, it could keep on doing it just fine.

The crowd disappeared and he entered a quiet park, the silence was soothing him somehow.  
For the sake of his mother, he had to be strong... For the sake of his siblings, he had to be unyielding.

For the sake of not becoming like his father, he had to...

"Be careful kid!  
"Behind you!"

He choked on a quick gasp as he was being roughly pulled out of his destructive thoughts by the voices of some heroes chasing a couple of villains.  
Damn... had he been so much lost in thought that he didn't sense their presence?  
He turned around quickly to see one of the villain rushing to him, blades spiking out of his arms, certainly his quirk.  
Does he thinks he can take me as a hostage?

He easily dodged the right swing the villain aimed at his stomach, did a back flip with his right hand and then, froze the ground so that the guy and his two friends were encased in ice from their neck to toes. Shouto, still squatting down, let out a breath, his heart still beating loud from the surprise, which never happens to him usually. He briefly closed his eyes, letting his guard down as he thought that it was over when one of the hero shouted:

"Wait up! There were supposed to be four of them, where..."

He didn't have the time to finish his question, when Shouto felt a stabbing pain in the back of his hip, feeling a sharp blade harshly tearing his flesh off, making a spurt of blood gashed out and splashing on the ground.  
The pain blinded him for half a second, but he had seen far worse than that and had a high pain tolerance. He spun around, seeing red for a second and grabbed the villain's face, catching his surprised mug before smacking it into the ground hard, breaking a few teeth in the process.

"Are you all right kid? What a chance that you are powerful!"  
"You lost quite some blood are you alright?"

He quickly nodded to reassure them. Now that the quick anger and adrenaline left his body, he could feel that his wound was not severe, as it didn't hit any organs or arteries, but was pretty deep judging by the amount of blood on the ground. He applied some ice on the slash to stop the bleeding, letting out a sigh of comfort, the cool doing his job. Apart of a little throbbing, he was quite alright. The pro heroes gathered the villains, after Shouto melted his ice, and explained the situation to him:

"A little more down the street, these villains were robbing a bank. We pursued the little group, but the main one is being taken into custody by the police and some other heroes. You should come with us to patch up that nasty wound, there are medics out there, taking care of the wounded. I'm pretty sure they have blood transfusions."

Feeling himself more and more dizzy, Shouto nodded and followed quietly behind them.  
When he had slammed the villain face fall on the concrete earlier... he didn't do it because he had to, he did it because he had been freaking terrified.

Creeping up behind him like that... a nasty cut on his hip... it was his father's favourite move during training, to build up the sense of danger and his wild instincts... he couldn't be in peace in his own mind, could he?  
Suddenly, his left side started itching, which happened at each end of the sparring sessions with his dad, so he pulled up his sleeve and started scratching. A bad habit he had developed each time his arm was throbbing, or when his thoughts wouldn't let him sleep in peace; he only stopped when he his skin was red raw and blotchy.  
He sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time and kept on walking with his right hand grabbing his left arm, as he wanted to just take it off.

If those thoughts were even torturing him during crisis times, he was going to have a huge problem in battles or rescues. Couldn't that bastard just leave him in peace?

"Come over here, Todoroki-kun! We'll leave you with the medics now. Again, you really helped us out there!" thanked again the heroes, tapping him kindly on the shoulder.

"Oh... yes, it was nothing."

He saw them got a little far away and hand over the villains to the police. A kind medic got at his side in an instant, making him sit on one of the benches they had brought with them, smiling gently and reassuring him. Well, he wasn't like the others who would freak out over their wounds, so he didn't make a sound the whole process. She cleaned his wound, resulting in a pile of bloody gauze around them and making a worried face when she saw that the blood didn't quite stopped yet.

"You should get to a hospital after this, Todoroki-kun. Your wound is still loosing blood and I don't have all the appropriate tools here to treat it. Are you in any pain?" she asked with a sweet voice.

"I'm okay ma'am. I numbed the wound earlier with my ice so I'm feeling pretty much nothing," he answered almost automatically."

"Okay, if you say so...," she believed him, but with a wound this deep, even the strongest of adults would at least hiss in discomfort or fidget from the pain... in Shouto's case, he didn't even budge a little. "What is your blood type, Todoroki-kun?"

"If I am not mistaken, it is O type, isn't it?"

A familiar, strong voice exclaimed itself just in front of him which startled him a bit, but he soon found himself more relaxed with the symbol of peace right there.

"Sensei... oh yes you're right it's O." he confirmed, which gave the signal to the medic to prepare the transfusion.

The surprise must have been clear in his eyes since All Might began to explain right away why he was there.

"I was helping the police on this case! And since I heard from the other heroes that one of my students was caught in the middle of the action, I came to see who it was and if you were alright my boy!" All Might was literally shining.

Until he saw the blood-socked gauze beside Shouto.

Shouto would have laughed if he wasn't feeling that dizzy. All Might kneeled down in front of him and began to hover his hands all around the boy, to see if he wasn't hurt anywhere else. The way of flickering his hands in the air like that when he was panicking made him think of Midoriya, and seeing him fidgeting like a little girl in all his muscle glory was hilarious. What a pity he was too tired to laugh.

"Don't worry I'm fine, Sensei." Shouto tried to reassure him a little, to not avail.

"That is not what I would call alright, my boy! You lost that much blood and you're still able to hold a correct conversation! You must at least feel a little dizzy, no?"

"Well now that I'm sitting, I don't feel dizzy that much anymore," he lied a little.

"Where were you hit my boy?"

"Oh, in the hip sir." the medic was prompt to answer, as she inserted the needle for the IV in Shouto's wrist, the precious crimson liquid running down to Shouto's veins.  
All Might placed himself behind the half'n'half boy and the medic to see how bad was the wound.  
"Well, well... It's freakishly deep!"

Despite his effort not to, the young man let out a chuckle, which he regretted immediately as it made his wound throbbed in a disgusting way.

"It is not something to laugh about, young man!" All Might scolded him, 100% in teacher mode. "I'll take you to Recovery Girl as soon as this blood will finish entering your system.

"You don't have to, I'm used to those kind of..."

"It is not a question of being used to it or not, my boy! It is a question of health, and this nasty cut won't disappear after a good night's rest!" All Might wasn't freaking out any more, he was adamant like the hero he is.

"He's right, Todoroki-kun. Your wound needs larger stitches to close it, if not, it will continue to bleed." the medic, Shiraishi-san, insisted shyly.

"...Is it that deep?"

"It sure is, my boy! You were saved by your back muscles because it would have hit an artery for sure instead!"

Shouto thought back of the moment he had been hurt again: perhaps... because of the anger, and the spurt of adrenaline it had sent pumping in his veins, he had felt pretty much nothing... It was infuriating how he had become almost indifferent to physical pain and the prey of his little fears so easily.  
He rubbed slightly his eyes, feeling more and more tired.

"Well I guess I have no choice, I should probably go." he finally concluded, mostly because of his teacher's insistent stare.

"Wise decision, young man! If you haven't done so, I would have been forced to take you all the way to school on my shoulder, ahahahaha!"

The boy sweat-dropped a little at the thought.

"Young miss, how much time would it take for the IV to finish?"  
"It is quite an amount of blood, so I think it will take about 45 minutes, sir."  
"I see! Plenty of time for me to take care of what I have to do with the police. I will meet you again after this, Todoroki my boy! And don't you move on your own, okay?"

Full teacher mode. It really suited him.

"Got it, Sensei. Not like I could go anywhe..."  
"See you my boy!"

…...

"Todoroki-kun? Can you hear me? Wake up dear, the IV is empty now." Shiraishi-san shook him lightly, but with infinite kindness, the shoulder and greeting him with a lovely smile.

Wait, did he dozed off? He remembered laying on his belly on the bench, not to hurt his back, but he had only closed his eyes for a second though. He wasn't the type to fall asleep in a blink of an eye like Kirishima or Kaminari. He rubbed his eyes and got in a sitting position, now painfully aware of the slash in his hip. Now that he had gotten a little sleep in his body, he could tell; the pain did pack quite a punch.  
The discomfort was clear on his face; as she kneeled in front of him to see if he was alright. She proposed him some painkillers, but he had overused them in his childhood, so his body had built a resistance against them. He politely declined them.  
It was going to pass though. Now that he got that throbbing headache. He hardly felt when Shiraishi-san removed the IV from his wrist and put a band-aid on it.

He heard some voices next to him, but didn't bother to look up as the headache moved from the back of his skull to behind his eyes. He began to rub them quickly, rubbing harder on his left one as his burn was itching.

"...ng Todoroki...Young Todoroki!"

Shouto was taken aback by the powerful voice who made him come back to reality. A gentle hand recovered his own, stopping him from rubbing any further. He raised his head, an expression of bewilderment on his face as he looked up to All Might.

"Are you all right, my boy? Let's get you healed up by Recovery Girl!" All Might said, with his usual dazzling smile. Didn't his zygomatic muscles get tired?

"Oh, yes I just woke up, I'm just a little stiff."

He stood up from the bench, but he got hit by the sudden rush of blood to his brain, got drowsy and swayed a little on his feet, the lines of his vision blurring.

"Whoa! You're not quite alright as I see, my boy. Let's hurry, so that you can get some rest in the infirmary."

Of course, All Might had him stabilized by grabbing instantly his shoulders, planting him firmly on his two feet.  
A thing was stirring Shouto up: before, he didn't have those after-effects when he was hurt in training or against a villain, so why did he felt so damn drained after just one slash from a small fry?  
He kept on rummaging through his brain to try and understand during the walk back to the school. He had to fight against his teacher who wanted to give him a piggy-back ride, reassuring him many times, because god this man could be stubborn, that he could properly walk on his own. He got away with a firm grip on his right shoulder as they were walking.

"Why such a serious face, my boy?"

Once again, he had been brought back from his thoughts by All Might.

"I was just thinking...about lots of things actually..."

"Are you perhaps pondering on what happened back then?"

Shouto's right hand automatically found its way on his left arm.

"Yes. They weren't that strong nor intelligent, but I got hurt anyway and furthermore from behind. I still don't understand how I could have been so relaxed and don't notice them."

"Maybe your head was already full of important thoughts. Weren't you lost in thoughts before they attacked you?"  
Ow. That was it.

"I..I was on my way back from visiting my mother at the hospital."

It was definitely that.

All Might looked downside, at the young boy's face: if he wasn't quite himself when he met him earlier, he wasn't himself at all right now. This look of staring far away in the horizon didn't suit a teenager at all.

"Well, even if you weren't plunged in your thoughts, you shouldn't blame yourself, indeed you did a great job by catching those robbers!"

It wasn't that. Now that All Might had put the finger on the problem, he knew what was irritating him; the fact that he moved fueled only by pure anger and fright.  
Anger and fright that were caused due to... ugh. He wasn't even the type to show his emotions, so why did he let them control him?

All Might could tell: the kid was battling inside himself, and he didn't want to talk about it. But, the taller man wasn't going to stay silent now that he knew something was wrong with his student.  
Even if he had his doubts about it, they had been confirmed during the sports festival medal ceremony. At that time, he thought that Young Todoroki would be able to find the key to his problems, thanks to Young Midoriya's help, but it seemed he had missed a few steps of the boy's development. Now that Young Midoriya wasn't breaking his bones at each time he used One for All, he ought to look more for his students, especially this young one.  
He could feel his shoulder tensing and flexing as they were walking, like his thoughts were attacking him relentlessly.  
He really should... no, he had to talk with that boy as his senses were tingling, announcing him something bad. And they were right almost all the time.

…...

"Hum. The wound was well treated and disinfected properly. I will only stitch it, and then heal you. But it is a large wound and based on your already pale face, it will take all of your remaining stamina. You will be out for a few hours." Recovery Girl explained, as she had been lifting Shouto's shirt to see the extent of the wound.

Shouto nodded, grateful for the fact that he was going to be freed from his mind for a few hours. But his relief was only of a short time.

"I will stitch it, and check if you aren't hurt anywhere else. Severe wounds can make you forget the less grave ones because of the great amount of pain, you know. I will use my two hands, so remove your shirt, dear."

Oh damn. He didn't see it coming. His mind went blank for a second, as he processed what it will mean.

Let people see the wounds he had inflicted to his body. More importantly, in front of that man.

"Todoroki, my boy? Is something the matter?"

It's alright. He can mask the truth. Saying that it was an accident when he was little or anyhting like that. He quickly removed his shirt, which resulted in Recovery Girl almost dropping her plate of medical tools and All Might to widely open his eyes from astonishment, to the point they looked like they were going to pop out of his eyes.  
Little scars were running and crossing each other on the young man's torso, already skin-coloured, but the most shocking was the huge burn mark on the middle of his torso, contrasting painfully with the porcelain-white colour of his chest, going from under his throat to the beginning of his v-line. And his back was quite full of old bruises that didn't fade and will certainly never do. Recovery Girl settled her plate on the bedside table, and couldn't help herself but to pass a gloved hand on the burn.

"My poor dear... you must have had those when you were still a small child. Sorry for making you took off your shirt," she said with an infinite compassion.

"Please don't apologise. It was when I was very young, I don't even remember the accident well and it doesn't hurt anymore," he replied politely, feeling guilty to lie to such a a kind person. He actually got those when he was still in middle school and he remembers it too well; his father increased the level of difficulty of the training, doing only the bases when he was in elementary school.

Shouto had been refusing vehemently to use his left side, so his father, out of anger, had punched him full force in the chest and didn't realize his fist was still coated in fire, spreading red-hot flames all over his son.  
Recovery Girl couldn't help but to stare so she moved to the other side of the bed to process to the stitches.

She had not said anything more, but there was another person in the room who was aching to ask a thousand questions to the boy. All Might wasn't even looking at the horrible burn scar as he knew right away who did it; watching Shouto on the infirmary bed, not even budging when a needle was piercing in the tender flesh of his wounded hip, still with this sorrowful look in his eyes... was too much. But the sadness was buried under overflowing anger toward the culprit of this disgusting act. He knew Endeavour had a long-last grudge against him, even if he didn't know the cause of it, but to take it off on his own son... he went too far, and deserved to be ripped off of his title of hero.

He remembered what the other man had said to him when they met during the festival.

One day, he will surpass you. I will make him surpass you for sure.

Those words had sent a chill down his spine. He pinched the bridge of his nose hard. How long was it happening? He had to calm himself first, before talking to Young Todoroki.

"There you go my dear. All patched up. Now lay up on your stomach so that I can use my quirk on you."

Shouto stretched a little, feeling almost nothing on his hip; his nonsense feeling must have worked as an anaesthetic, or it was his teacher piercing look who did the work. He must have busted the truth and didn't know what to say to him. Well of course... All Might was the type of person who could trust and believe anyone... he was that much kind, even to respectfully treat his father and he just learnt that the guy was actually worse than most of the villains outside.  
As he was lying down, they made eye-contact for just a second and Shouto was really surprised when he could see so much emotions lying in the usually black eyes, but the major ones were anger and... disappointment?  
Well... he didn't breathe a word to anybody about that, except to Midoriya, but the freckled boy doesn't know about the fact that his father was violent with him. All Might must be surprised that he didn't talked about something that grave.

"Todoroki, my boy?"  
"Yes?," he replied hastily, on his elbows.  
"When you will wake up, I'd like to talk with you about a lot of things. Is that okay with you?"

Eh? Why would he want to talk about it? A lot? Shouto didn't understand why, but the only thing that made sense right now, is that he owned his teacher an explanation.

"Understood. I'll wait for you."  
"Good. Rest well, my boy."

Before he could feel his consciousness drift from the sudden stamina drain, All Might gave him one last reassuring smile. The last thing Shouto thought of was:

"Ah...I wonder how things would have been if that man had been my father instead."

…...

At first, his head was in a blissful haze and for a few minutes, he didn't move, wondering simply where he was and why he was enjoying that state of nothingness. And then he felt bandages around his waist, and everything came back in a flash.  
A scathing sting piercing his skull for a second. He propped himself on his elbows and sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing his temples.

"Awake, dear?"  
"Yes, ma'am." If there was something good right now, it was the fact that he felt light and anymore pain in his back. He stood up to stretch, but felt a little light-headed even though it disappeared quite quickly.

"Oh yes, before I forgot to tell you; low-blood sugar comes in hand with massive blood loss, so you must be feeling giddy. When you're ready, you should go downstairs and eat something at the cafeteria."

"Good idea. I will go after I dress up."

He took his stuff on the chair beside the bed he was in, put his shirt, jacket and bag back, clipped it and stretched again properly to get to confirmation he was alright.  
He greeted Recovery Girl goodbye and reached for the doorknob when he felt a little, yet strong hand tug at his shirt. He turned around curiously and she looked at him with a gentle eye.

"Hold out your hand, Todoroki-kun."

Wondering what it could be, he obeyed and she gave a vial of ointment.

"What is inside?"  
"It's in case your old wound hurt. It happens a lot, especially when you're aiming to be a pro hero, and it really relieves the pain, as well as it helps reducing the scars. They won't disappear like this, but if you use it once a week, they should vanish in five or six years. And I'm sure you'll be very happy to get rid of them."

She knows too. Well it does make sense, she is a doctor, and a very clever and experienced one.  
"Thank you very much." he bowed politely, before getting out of the room and closing the door behind him.

His huge scar was indeed throbbing from time to time, so it was going to be useful, especially for their upcoming summer camp.  
A hand placed itself on his shoulder, but he wasn't surprised this time, and kind of waited for it. All Might had been waiting for him beside the door, but he didn't have quite the same energy as earlier at the bank robbery.

"Well, let's go to the cafeteria my boy."  
"All Might?," Shouto didn't waist a single second.  
"What is it?" he got all of his attention.

"I think that you know who... who did this to me, but why do you want to talk about it? It's all in the past now."  
"It is because of the person who did it to you. And I know that indirectly, it is my fault, my boy."

Shouto perked up at that instantly.

"No, that's wrong! Whatever my shitty dad could have done to me, it wasn't your fault, it's..!"  
"Whoever's fault it is young boy... I've got my responsibility in it and I'm truly sorry."

Shouto didn't understand. He didn't know what was going on and couldn't possibly have known, so why was he apologizing? He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and lowered his head.

"Well, you shouldn't." he mumbled quietly. "He's talented to hide the bad things about him and pretend, that's all."  
"Nonetheless, I worked with him a lot in my younger years. I knew that he had children, but I didn't suspect anything at all and it infuriates me."

He had been badly mistaken. After the medal ceremony, he had said that he wouldn't ask for the details of what had been happening to Young Todoroki, that the young boy could solve his problems alone from here... but he shouldn't have left him all on his own, while he was having difficulty to deal with his own thoughts. Even though he is surrounded by his wonderful friends, they weren't supposed to know anything about it as most of them know and respect Endeavour.

"Even if you had suspected something, you wouldn't have believed it. Just... don't blame yourself, okay? I'm not physically hurt anymore, so..."

"Physically?"

His red and white bangs were hiding his eyes.

"But you're still hurt aren't you, my boy? Right here." All Might said, poking the left side of his chest. "That's why I wanted to talk to you; not as the number one hero, but as your teacher. I understand the big picture, but I don't how you are feeling about it... you certainly don't quite know yourself, and that's why I need you to talk to me so that we can figure what's pulling you down together."

Pulling him down? Obviously, it was mainly his father's existence, but there was something pulling at his chest permanently since he was a child, but at some point he forgot what was the cause of it and he kept on living with it. He always thought that it was simply his father, but he could sense now that it was something way deeper, that went back to the very roots that made himself.

A roaring thunderbolt crashed at that moment in a deafening sound that rattled the boy to his very core, and made both of his bones and mind ache deeply from fright. His eyes widened as his heart had begun thumping louder and louder as he slowly realized what was wrong with him.

"That one was pretty heavy, huh? Let's make our way downstairs, so that.."

All Might, who had turned and started walking, heard a thumping sound behind him. He turned around again to be greeted by the sight of Young Todoroki, on his knees, grabbing harshly at his head and trembling like a leaf.

"My boy?! What happened, are you al..."

He couldn't hear a sound. Because of his relentless efforts to remember and the thunder, which kind of acted like a trigger, his body entered a state of shock and he couldn't stop the flashback from pouring in his head, making it feel like it was going to split and break.

"Shouto, don't look! They're from a different world than yours."

"You're the greatest masterpiece! You're different from your older siblings!"

"His left side is so ugly!"

"Where is mom?"

"She hurt you, so I put her in a hospital."

"Have you finally accepted yourself? That's good! Bearing my blood, you'll surpass me, and fulfil my ambitions for me!"

He could feel from afar the big hands grabbing his shoulders and calling frantically his name, but he couldn't make any sense of it, as realization soaked into his veins like poison.  
The source of all his problems was of course his shitty progenitor, but the sine qua non cause was himself. As simple as that. His blood was a curse that he received from his father, tormenting him from the inside, so how could he escape from that?

"I don't wanna..."he was whimpering like a little child.

All Might was horrified by the sight the young boy was offering him. A minute ago, they were talking calmly, and all of a sudden, he was a crying mess, crushing his skull with his hands, like he was trying to tear out his thoughts forcefully. He panicked even more when he saw that Young Todoroki was digging his nails hard enough in his temples to draw blood; he grabbed the young boy's wrists firmly but gently, and moved them away, gathering them in one hand to keep a hold of the boy.

"I don't wanna..." Shouto repeated, completely reverted at the time he was five, and began to panic, unable to calm his hectic breathing.

"You're not forced to do anything, my boy. Talk to me. What is it that you don't want to do?" All Might was skilful, thank god, when it came to reassure victims that were suffering panics attack from villain assaults. He was ruffling slowly the boy's hair and speaking gently to him. Shouto was terrified, but he still recognized the number one hero, and if he was there, he could talk to him without fear.

"I don't...wanna be someone that bullies mommy... heroes are cool men, they help tons... o-of people... and everybody loves 'em, so...why..."

His fingers were gripping hard on All Might's wrists and he kept his head lowered.

"Why is my daddy not nice with me? I'm doing everything he tells me to do, s-so... why did he take mommy from us?"

He was hiccuping, barely breathing, vainly wiping the overflowing tears from his mismatched eyes.  
Oh my god... he was so going to kill Endeavour. The usually calm and collected young man actually was hiding several layers of turmoil deeply buried within him. It was simply heartbreaking, but he couldn't let his anger take the best of him, especially when Young Todoroki was in that state.

"You're alright, my boy. I'm not going to force you to do anything. Your daddy is far away from here, and you're mommy is safe. She is also far away from him. Take deep breaths, for the moment."

Shouto, when a kid, was very obedient, mainly because of his father, but seeing the number one hero talking so softly to him, it made him genuinely want to listen to him. He was grabbing at his chest, trying to synchronize his breathing with the bigger man's one.

"That's right, you must calm down. Young Todo... Shouto-kun, how old are you?"  
" 'm five, sir."

That's what I was afraid of. Child regression.

Young Todoroki had always his eyes half-closed, focused and serious. But this Shouto had big, round, watery eyes, with liquid iris and a lost look in his eyes, now tightly pleated.  
He had to get the boy back before he got in too deep, and he had a pretty precise idea of what the boy was afraid of.

"It's alright, Shouto-kun. You can become the kind of hero you like."

The boy straightened his head a little.

"D-daddy says that I have to be the best of them."

"He is wrong. You can be what you want to be and he has no possible means of making you doing what he wants. It is your own life and body. As long as you wish for it, the decision is up to you, he does not have any right to force that much pressure on you."

You don't have to be burdened by your blood. It is alright for you, you know.

"I can?" his tone was uncertain, hesitant, but regained a bit of his seriousness.

"Of course. Nobody can decide against your will." All Might assured him, with a convincing voice.

Naturally, those words spoke directly to Shouto's subconscious and made his breathing evened and muscles loosened a bit and before he knew it, he was being pulled in an embrace by his teacher, a strong hand running circles on his back, in a very soothing way. He had his chin tucked on All Might's shoulder, his body barely visible as he was engulfed into a bear hug.

For what he could recall, he had never been hugged with that much warmth and sense of safety before.  
He was bringing back to earth, a strong anchor to the ground, as he was in the arms of the only man his father couldn't beat.  
His eyes went back to normal and he leaned in the hug, exhausted by his panic attack.

"Sensei..?"

"Welcome back, Young Todoroki."

Shouto closed his eyes, and finally allowed himself to smile, letting out a little exhausted chuckle.

….

They were sitting at the empty cafeteria, as it was already late. Shouto's phone had vibrated multiple times in the last minute, his classmates worried about his whereabouts. To quell their fears, he quickly send a message chat for everyone to see, on their group, saying that he had been involved in a fight with some villains and that he just finished receiving treatment from Recovery Girl. Almost everybody manifested their worries, but he reassured them that he was alright and resting.  
Actually, he was starving an eating his second plate of cold soba as the American hero was loyal to himself and finishing his hamburger.  
Before they had begun to eat, he had said everything to the hero, starting with quick marriage, then what happened to his mother, to why he didn't want to use his fire power. He also told him that Midoriya knew, but not in the details.

"So, event though you decided to follow your own path, you're afraid of his presence. It can't be helped that you're scared my boy, don't be ashamed of it. But, can I ask you what triggered the state of shock you were in earlier?"

His hand gripped on his chopsticks hard. To think that he would revert to his kid self… actually, he didn't remembered well what he had said or done during this short span of time. He kept his gaze low on his half-finished food.

"I realized that, indeed, the source of all of my problems was him. Yet, since I was a child, something always set me off, making me uncomfortable almost all the time… but with some time, I got used to it and grew up without knowing what had caused that precise discomfort. And I realized earlier that it was myself."

All Might let out a little, almost inaudible, gasp of surprise.

"Why yourself, my boy?"

"Because I'm this person's son. That simple reality made me sick when I was little. He educated me to be an upgraded version of himself; as soon as I was born, and he saw that my hair was evenly split into the red and white sides, he knew I was the one, that I was wielding the two quirks. My way of fighting, my left side, little details and habits… he's in every little gesture of mine, and that was set me off the edge."  
It made in several ways. But one was wrong.

"You know, Young Todoroki, I worked in cooperation with Endeavour for more than twenty years, and I can see that you don't look alike one bit." he said, with a confident smile.

Shouto turned his gaze for just a moment, still keeping his head a little low, to meet with his teacher's eyes, his own betraying his curiosity.

"Really?"  
A hint of hope laid within this tiny word.

"Of course. Well, first and foremost, you're not a living human trash on fire."

The half'n'half boy clapped his hand on his mouth, smothering a bubbling laugh as the joke startled him, suddenly breaking the solemn mood. Well, he didn't know how he looked like at school but he was certainly not an asshole as his friends cherish and worry about him.  
Pleased to have finally made the teenager genuinely laugh, All Might processed on listing their differences.

"You're undeniably kinder than him; your disinterest in doing good is one of your special features. You do not seek power for your own glory, your desire of becoming a hero is pure, as you want to help the others. You are very considerate of your classmates, picking up on the details and you are always there to provide a quiet and heart-strengthening support for them. Especially during the exam when you paired up with Miss Yaoyorozu.

Shouto smiled fondly at the mention of the girl who became his very close friend; both were coming from wealthy background, and had that same vibe of social awkwardness. They really bonded after their fight with Aizawa-sensei.

"There is more; it is undeniable that your fighting style has some similarities with his as he taught you the basics, but I can clearly opposed many things; you two are not giving your opponent the same attention. You, Young Todoroki, tend to be more careful because you do not wish them to be badly hurt, petty or big villains regardless. Endeavour doesn't care of sparing or killing his enemies. You also tend to launch high-range attacks to test and determine your opponent's strength. You never under-estimate them whereas your father usually takes them down in one bit, deciding from the get-go that he is stronger than them."

"You are definitely more sociable than he is. (Shouto raised his eyebrows) I assure you, my boy, it's true! He doesn't like being friendly with anybody, if it doesn't bring him any merit. Belittling is a word you don't know, and you how to enjoy being with your loved one, simply taking pleasure and appreciating their presence. You're a bit of a klutz, but in a cute way."

*Blushing*

"To be brief, I could sit here and tell you for another solid hour how you and him are fundamentally different, but think I made my point crystal-clear, and I also believe that you know, at least inside of you, that you are the polar opposite of that appalling man."

He couldn't answer right away and had to think a little bit, confused but nevertheless happy for what his teacher told him.

"Of course, we are different human beings, but..."

"Is something else bugging you? You can tell me if you want to."

Shouto averted his gaze toward his hands, clenching and unclenching them, trying to shake off the numbness.

"I'm so afraid of becoming like him, sensei."

He dropped the sentence like it was a bomb, barely whispering as he was refusing to admit his deepest fear, but it was enough to reach the trained ears of the number one hero. The older man closed his eyes for a second, letting the information soak. He did anticipated the child to be afraid of it, making him sick to his stomach that such a kind and strong hero-in-training could think for a second that he would turn into such a monster.

He could understand him very fully though. Even if you're full of the best intentions and pure of heart, staying almost all the time with an evil monster could have repercussions on you, dyeing you black without you even noticing it.  
But Young Todoroki had one thing that his father hadn't, and will never have.

"I can tell you my boy, there is no way in hell you can or will become like him. But I'm also aware that words cannot succeed alone in quenching the fear in your heart. That is why you don't need to do it all on your own."

"How can I solve my problems if I don't get things done by myself?" His fingers were curled on the edge of the table, eager for an anwser.

"Let me answer this question by another one; what is the thing that you gained since you entered high school?"

The thing he had gained… meaning that it was something he lacked when he lived at "home"… something obviously positive…  
A green-haired boy popped into his mind, followed by a pony-tailed, kind-hearted girl, and a little less kind-hearted, angry, spiky-haired boy… as well as 16 other welcoming persons.

"I got valuable friends." he said, in a tiny but grateful, and comforted voice.

"Exactly, my boy. You are all going to be heroes, watching each other's back, and not everything is going to go as planned, lots of hurdles will plant themselves before you… and honestly, you're going to spit your lungs!" a loud laugh erupted from the hero's chest, earning on the way a little knowing chuckle from Shouto. "What I want to say is that your comrades will support and care for you as much as you'll do for them. So, even if you'll face darkness, or any other destructive feeling bubbling within you, your friends will be here to put you back on the straight path, and ease your fears, as much as they can. That's the prime difference between you and your progenitor (the word "father" had disappeared) as he closed himself from everybody else, and got lost too far away. Becoming a hero doesn't lean that you will automatically be relived of your flaws, fears, anxiety or even anger. It doesn't mean becoming perfect either, not at all. It means that you have become kind and strong enough to accept the help you're given, and acknowledge when you need it. Because heroes who save heroes is a totally normal thing among us, it happens all the time."

Pondering on the truth that these words were holding, Shouto changed the definition he had of a hero, a person strong enough to recognize his/her weaknesses… huh? He knew that it was okay to rely on his comrades, giving all the crazy things they've been through together, they held a special place in his heart. But…

"Were you perhaps thinking that accepting help was a form of weakness?"

The young man's grip on his cup of tea hardened, but not from embarrassment or sorrow.

"He was the one to told me that and I think I believed it at some point… that the best of heroes didn't need compassion or love from the others… But now I fully realized that it is utterly wrong!"

A determined look flashed upon his eyes, as he straightened his head to look directly at the hero's eyes, making his hair flutter a little.

"As you said, a hero's job is to protect people. So I think I need to get used to the affection these people are willing to give me, as well as my friends' own friendliness. It's not like I'll get used to be the object of worry of everyone right away, but… I'll start by accepting it inside me." he smiled, his mismatched eyes brightening with the same light.

All Might gave him an approving nod, satisfied with the way Young Todoroki gave himself a new start.

"A step after the other one, young man. That's the way of all learnings."  
"Aye."  
"But do remember something."  
"What is it?"

The hero stood up from his seat, walked toward the boy and gently placed a hand behind his neck to welcome him once again against his chest, settling his other large hand on the base of his backbone.

"You're a human being. And a still young one too. Not a puppet created by your father, and it is an extremely good thing that you've realized it today. So I'll give you an advice… take this experience you got today and bring it with you tomorrow, and the day after it, and again the day after it… until you've made it your own. Become stronger for your own sake, and you'll find the answers you yearn for along the way, with your comrades and the heroes of this society. We will always have your back." he gave him two pats on the back to punctuate his words.

If Shouto wasn't feeling calmer earlier, he was completely relaxed right now. For the time being, his father was a long, gone memory and his mind was focused on all the possibilities he had avert his eyes from. Hesitantly, but firmly he grasped his sensei's shirt, and returned the hug this time, immensely grateful for the fact that he would be able to walk alongside his idol.  
A single tear leaked gracefully from his left eye, a beautiful, crystal blue that was already his own as he felt a familiar hand ruffling his hair, intertwining his red and white strands in a, mixing them.  
Todoroki Shouto felt at peace with himself.  
In those warm arms, he could feel the hopeful promise of his future, a future free of any shackles and where he could allow himself to spread his wings and break the cage he had been trapped for so long, tracing his path with both ice and fire.

 _My life, my choice._


End file.
